History and Biographies

Yona Zeblis McDonough (A) and John OBrien (ILT) and Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Musician / Trumpet – 2004)

If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a…

Megan Stine (A) and John O’Brien (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography / First Lady – 2014)

Born into a close knit family inChicago, Michelle Robinson was a star student who graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law. Then in 1992, she married another promising young lawyer and the rest, as they say,…

Meg Belviso (A), Pamela D. Pollack (A) and Stephen Marchesi (ILT)

List Price: $5.57 (Paperback – Biography / South African / Leader – 2014)

As a child he dreamt of changing South Africa; as a man he changed the world. Nelson Mandela spent his life battling apartheid and championing a peaceful revolution. He…

Zona Zeldis McDonough (A) and Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Conductor / Underground Railroad – 2002)

Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman knew first-hand what it meant to be someone’s property; she was whipped by owners and almost killed by an overseer. It was from other field…

Discover the life of Kamala Harris―a story for kids ages 6 to 9 about fighting for justice. The new edition, updated to reflect her vice presidency and 2024 presidential run!

Kamala Harris is the first woman, Black American, and South Asian American to become vice president of the United States―and now she is running…

Kathryn Erksine (A) and Charly Parker (ILT)

List Price: $22.50 (Hardcover – South Africa / Singer / Activist – 2017)

Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award–winning South African singer, rose to fame in the hearts of her people at the pinnacle of apartheid―a brutal system of segregation similar to American Jim Crow laws. Mama…

Robert Edwards (A) and True Kelley (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Egyptian / Pharaoh – 2006)

Ever since Howard Carter uncovered King Tutankhamun tomb in 1922, the young pharaoh has become a symbol of the wealth and mystery of ancient Egypt. Now, a…

Roberta Edwards (A), Nancy Harrison (ILT) and John O’Brien (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography / Leader / President of the United States – 2009)

As the world now knows, Barack Obama has made history as our first African-American president. With black-and-white illustrations throughout, this biography is perfect for primary graders looking…

Nikole Hannah Jones (A) and Renee Watson (A) and Nikkolas Smith (ILT)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Retells The Journey of An Enslaved People to the US – 2021)

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered…

Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (A) and R. Gregory Christie (ILT)

List Price: $19.99  (Library Binding – Biography Law Enforcement / U.S. Marshall – 2009)

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John Lewis (A) and Andrew Aydin (A) and Nate Powell (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Paperback – Civil Rights Era / Leader / Congressman – 2016)

One of the Best Books of 2016” – Publishers Weekly

Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling

MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon…

Sherri L. Smith and Who HQ (A)

List Price: $6.99  (Paperback – Who Was / Is Series -Tuskegee Airmen / Legendary Fighter Pilots – 2018)

It’s up, up, and away with the Tuskegee Airmen, a heroic group of African American military pilots who helped the United States win World War II.

During World…

Montdrew Dunham (A)

List Price $7.99 (Paperback – Biography / First Black Supreme Court Justice -1998)

Whenever Thurgood Marshall got into trouble at school, the principal would make him sit in the basement and read the U.S. Constitution. By the time he was 12, he had most of it memorized and his interest…

Andrea Davis Pinkney (A) and Brian Pinkney (ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – African American History / Free Black / Scientist Engineer / Genius – 1998)

Benjamin Banneker was born free when most blacks in this country were still enslaved. But it troubled him that not all blacks were not…

Gail Herman (A), Nancy Harrison (ILT) and John O’Brien (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography – Sports / Baseball – 2010)

As a kid, Jackie Robinson loved sports. And why not? He was a natural at football, basketball, and, of course, baseball. But beyond athletic skill, it was his strength of character…

Anne Petry (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – History / Biography / Underground Railroad / Escape from Slavery – 1996)

This quintessential middle grade biography of Harriet Tubman now features a cover by NAACP Image Award winner and Caldecott Honor illustrator Kadir Nelson, a foreword by National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds,…

Dana Meachen Rau (A)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Caesar Chavez Bio / Activist Leader – 2017)

When he was young, Cesar and his Mexican American family toiled in the fields as migrant farm workers. He knew all too well the hardships farm workers faced. His public-relations approach to unionism and aggressive…

Marne Ventura (A)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – Biography / Science – Astro Physicist and Space Advocate – 2014)                                               

“Have you ever stared into the night sky, full of stars…

Ellen Labrecque (A), Dede Putra (ILT), Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Biography / Author / Poet – 2016)

Born in Missouri in 1928, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks and whites in the South. Her family life was unstable at times. But much like her…

Martha Freeman (A) and Katy Wu (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover –  Bios of 20 Female Scientists – 2020)

“An inspiring look at women who realized curiosity plus tenacity equals success.” —Kirkus Reviews
“[A] captivating compendium.” —Publishers Weekly

Discover the histories of twenty incredible female scientists in this inspiring biography…

Kathleen Krull (A) and David Diaz (ILT)

List Price: $8.95 (Paperback – Sports / Track Athlete / Handicap / Determination – 2000)

Description: Wilma Rudolph was born in Tennessee in 1940 and contracted polio just before her fifth birthday. She was not expected to walk…

Walter Dean Myers (A) and Bonnie Christensen (ILT)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Biography / Activist – Journalist/ Exposed Lynching – 2008)

Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives…

Dr. Mae Jemison (A)

A Collection of Moments in Dr. Mae’s Life

List Price: $23.95 (Hardcover – First Black Astronaut- 2021)

“The writing sings” says Publisher’s Weekly in this “inspiring autobiography.” Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, is truly a modern hero with a remarkable, inspirational story to tell.

…

Kate Bisantz and Max Bisantz (A)

List Price: $6.99 (Paperback – Popular Singer / Artist – 2018)

As a young girl, Selena Quintanilla sang in a band called Selena y Los Dinos with her brother and sister. The family performed at fairs, weddings, quinceañeras, and on street corners in their native…

Walter Dean Myers (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Leader / African American / Politics – 1994)

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book and an ALA Notable Children Book.

In this highly praised, award-winning biography, Walter Dean Myers portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and…

Yona Zeldis McDonough (A), Nancy Harrison (ILT) and Stephen Marchesi (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography – Activist /Civil Rights Leader – 2010)

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America and earned…

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (A) and Ray Obstfeld (A) and A.G. Ford (ILT)

List Price: $8.99 (Paperback – African American History / Scientists – 2013)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend and the NBA’s all time leading scorer, champions a lineup of little-known African-American inventors in this lively, kid-friendly book.

Did you know that James West invented…

Bonnie Bader (A) and Nancy Harrison (ILT)

List Price: $5.99 (Paperback – Biography / Preacher and Civil Rights Leader  – 2007)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 25 when he helped organize <span…

Cheryl Hudson (A) and Erin K.Robinson

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – African American Women Leaders – 2020)

Published in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, discover over fifty remarkable African American women whose unique skills and contributions paved the way for the next generation of young people. Perfect for…

A “2020 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People” Selection

A vibrantly illustrated and compelling collection of profiles about women and men who revolutionized politics, policy, commerce and activism.

You likely know that Barack Obama was the first African American president of the United States. And you…